Confidence-Building in Cyberspace: A Comparison of Territorial and Weapons-Based Regimes

The term "confidence-building measures" is not new. The idea that international actors can come together to share information about their activities in order to establish trust, prevent misunderstandings and misperceptions and de-escalate conflicts is one that has a long pedigree. The development of confidence- building measures in the areas of biological and chemical warfare date back to the beginning of the 20th century. Confidence-building measures aimed at de-escalating conflicts along the Indo-Pakistan border date back to the 1970s. But what do these diverse events have to offer us as lessons as we think about confidence-building measures in cyberspace? Dr. Mary Manjikian's insightful analysis suggests that both territorially based and weapons-based confidence-building measures can provide models for the ways in which states can learn to cooperate and share information in regard to cyberspace and cyber weapons.